Broadening educational choice is a matter of justice — especially for those who do not have equal access to education opportunities.11

Providing a child with a quality education is one of the most important responsibilities of parents. In Catholic teaching, parents are the primary educators of their children. Policies are necessary that give parents the option to choose the educational setting they decide is best for each individual child. School choice programs are exploding around the country, with 18 states and the District of Columbia having enacted programs that give parents more educational options than just public schools. Almost every state in the Midwest is expanding parental choice in education, but Minnesota is lagging behind. The consequences of Minnesota’s failure to create educational opportunity are having enormous consequences on the most vulnerable.

Minnesota, with fewer educational options for low-income families than many places in the Midwest, has the highest reading gap in the United States between white and both African-American and Latino students. Opportunity scholarships for low-income families, tuition tax credits, tax credits for businesses organizations and individuals who donate to scholarship organizations, educational savings accounts for students with disabilities and other programs would open new doors for families in need of more options.

Every child in Minnesota, enrolled in public or non-public schools, deserves a quality education. Nonpublic schools are not competitors, they are partners. State policies that guide education policy must be fair, just and treat all students equally, and with individual dignity.

Where does the candidate stand on expanding school choice options such as tuition tax credits, opportunity scholarship programs or vouchers?

Does the candidate oppose efforts to reduce pupil funding received by students in non-public schools for busing, textbooks, and health care? Does he or she oppose costly and unnecessary mandates on nonpublic schools that threaten their institutional integrity, such as so-called “anti-bullying legislation?”